Terahertz scattering by dense media

Frequency dependent absorption of a given material at distinct frequencies in the terahertz (THz) range is commonly used as a spectral fingerprint for material identification and classification. However, in the presence of strong scattering, these features can often become distorted or altered. Thus, there is an important need to understand how scattering from a sample alters the THz signal. In this letter, we propose an iterative algorithm that builds on the effective field theory proposed by P. C. Waterman and R. Truell [J. Math. Phys. 2, 512-537 (1961)] and offers a rather simple and computationally efficient method for accurately explaining the multiple scattering response of a medium. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4720078]